A review by lyrasbookshelf
Unteachable by Elliot Wake

emotional reflective

2.5

This wasn't horrible, but I'm glad it's over. I probably would have loved it as a teen. It's very angsty and has that mature-for-their-age teenager vibe. I felt like the writing tried to be something it wasn't. It's very simple, but tries to be frilly at the edges and it felt unnatural to me. I also feel conflicted about the author's intent and I'm not sure whether they're trying to convince the reader to think that a teacher-student relationship is fine because she's 18 and 'mature for her age'. It does mention power imbalance and the FMC does reflect on the fucked up-ness of their relationship, but it doesn't go deeper than that, so I'm left wondering what this book is trying to say.

Significant minus points for talking shit about other girls/being 'not like the other girls', throwing around Holocaust like it's edgy, and constantly bringing up Lolita as if she was some teenage seductress, not a victim of abuse.